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REUSENews

Clothes, then waste, then clothes again

Writer: Editor
Editor
4 hours ago
3 min read

POLICY & REUSE


Donated clothes can be fit to wear — yet EU rules classify them as waste when collected. New proposals spell out what it would take to sell them as second-hand clothes again. But the required checks and paperwork could prove too costly for smaller reuse businesses.


Consider a shirt dropped into a clothing collection container. Its owner expects someone else to wear it. But the garment’s physical condition and its legal status are different questions.


The EU’s revised Waste Framework Directive requires separately collected textiles to be treated as waste upon collection. There is an exception: items handed directly to a reuse operator and professionally assessed as reusable at the collection point can remain products. The directive requires national implementation; it does not mean every donation everywhere in Europe already follows identical rules.


For clothing entering the waste system, proposals published by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre on 26 October set out how it could regain product status. These are technical recommendations, not adopted rules.


From collection to sale

Under the proposal, the shirt would undergo sorting and any necessary preparation for reuse. Qualified staff would assess cleanliness and functionality. Minor faults would be acceptable if they do not compromise safety or intended use.


The operator would document compliance through an externally verified quality-management system. A statement confirming conformity would accompany each consignment to its next holder.


JRC expects common criteria to reduce legal uncertainty. But stakeholders consulted for the report warned that certification costs could force smaller operators out of the market. JRC nevertheless retains external verification, arguing that consistent controls are needed for safety and trust.


When safeguards can obstruct reuse

The report also records warnings that compulsory repairs could cost more than garments are worth and push usable clothing towards recycling. JRC accepts that overly rigid appearance requirements could undermine reuse and affordability. Its approach leaves room for professional judgement and different second-hand markets.


A separate JRC proposal, published on 27 October, addresses recycling. It does not allow textiles to become products merely because they have been sorted for recycling: the relevant processing and output requirements must also be met.


Nor would EU product status automatically settle every export question. Under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation, disagreement between dispatch and destination authorities over whether something is waste means it is treated as waste for shipment purposes.


The separate Basel Convention process is considering options for used textiles and textile waste, with comments due by 30 November. The JRC proposals do not decide that process.


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